Scale G-Wagon

[Michaele]

Today the postman brought some photo-etched sheet I had me done:

Since I could not wait I started to put some parts together.This was some work for a watchmaker, not really for me. But then, my father was a trained watchmaker, but I do not have much from him there. The mechanics is bolted together with M4 screws, washers and nuts. The tool is a 2mm fork wrench, that is 30mm long. Everything a bit too small for my fingers, and was just doable patiencewise. At least the seat cushion is mounted, the rear part is still missing. But you will get the idea here:

The seats can sway to the front, so that the rear passengers can climb in. And this is how its done:

Michael

 

[dockman]

Wow, just wow. You are going above and beyond on this build, your attention to detail is amazing. So much work going into this I would be scared to drive it, but would be a shame not to. You have got to get some videos of this once it is done.

 

[ugly duck]

Awesome seat frame! Those ain't M4 screws, though...

 

[Michaele]

Wow, just wow. You are going above and beyond on this build, your attention to detail is amazing. So much work going into this I would be scared to drive it, but would be a shame not to. You have got to get some videos of this once it is done.

Don' t be afraid, this thing will be driven- as long as it will be done one day.....

Awesome seat frame! Those ain't M4 screws, though...

Of course no M4 screws, that was a typo. M4 I can handle even with my humble fingers. These were M1.4!

Michael

 

[ugly duck]

Yeah, that's what I thought. M1.4 is a new one for me, though, but metric is still a second language in Canada for building supplies. I thought maybe you meant that they were 4mm long, which I'd believe. They're darn small, anyway!

Don't sneeze when you're building the other side, you might never see those parts again!

You have taken building to a new level of sophistication.

 

[Michaele]

The smallest screws I have found for model building were M0.6! The smallest I ordered were M1.0 though. But its really hard to see a thread on them, so I used the M1.4 for the seats.

Michael

 

[Benzbuildr]

All I have to say is WOW!! Michaele This is an AWESOME build."thumbsup""thumbsup"

I love the 300 SD. I want a 1:1 version real bad.

Please keep us updated. Subscribed!!"thumbsup"

 

[Michaele]

Yesterday arrived the leather color in "Dattel", which is the name of the color of all the interior parts. So of course I had to paint the door lining immediately. Now this is fitting the floor mats much better:

Michael

 

[Michaele]

OK guys, after fumbling 1 1/2 hrs with tiny drillers, and micro screws (this time M1.2 countersunk...) the first step of mounting the rear door is done. Two hinges were bolted to the door and the body. With 5 screws each:

The alignment seem to be perfect, it pivots just smooth. Until now there is nothing stopping the lid, but I have an idea already. And no mechanics to keep the lid shut. But no idea therefor whatsoever.....

Michael

 

[Michaele]

Now I tried to make the hinge that holds the rear doo in the 90° angle when opened. I did this without checking the real one, it was build just after my recollection. Now I have learned that this is not easy to transform. At least it is looking like I had in my mind, but the gap between the body and the door is quite tight for two 0,3mm thick parts, that were bolted together with a M1 countersunk bolt and a nut on the other side. And wich a washer in between.....

Michael

 

[Michaele]

Yesterday I found solutions for the grill attachment, and the dashboard is bolted to the body as well. I am not in the mood to glue everything together, since I am not too sure when I will have to disassemble it again, for whatever reason.....

The seat was due in the next steps: I soldered the parts to the frame that will take care of the rear portion of the seat. Then since I was on it anyway, I bondoed, sanded and painted everything to get a nicer first finish. It my not be that way till the end, we will see.

So here is the (passenger) seat mounted in the rear position:

And here in the position to climb into the rear:

Michael

 

[Michaele]

One evening, and 8 (threaded!) holes later the passenger door is mounted to the body. This time I used the small brass hinges I used for the bonnet and rear door as well. Worst part was aligning the hinges to have the body and the door drilled so that everything fits in the end. And fitting it does, at least good enough for me.

The hinges were bolted on with 4 M1x4mm screws, the holes were drilled with 0.8mm, then threaded with M1. Oh my, this is really small, did I mention this before? I assume I will mention it every time these small bolts were in use on the car....

The door is not yet painted (obviously...)

And here you can see the hinges with the micro screws:

Michael

 

[Michaele]

Started with the second generation frame yesterday:

Now the cross members were bolted on, the rear spring/shock mounting is soldered to the cross members, and the eyes of the front top shock mount is threaded. Of course I nneded to put the front axle in place, at least to see if all the holes and parts were properly aligned

Looks OK so far, but still lots of work to be done to the frame....

Michael

 

[Michaele]

Last job for today. I soldered two of the body mounts. One is on the front, a bracket that holds the front of the body, and is also the mount for the front bumper and the front protection. The other one is the pocket holding the body under the drivers feet:

Here is a picture with the frame and the body, where you can see the position of these:

And here a complete underside shot. The frame sits really tight under the body:

Michael

 

[ugly duck]

German precision.

 

[Michaele]

German precision.

Yes indeed, thanks. German precision of a german car :ror:

Now I just took care of the rear axle. The radius arms were in, the panhard is still missing on both axles. I just wanted to get the second axle mounted, to see if everything fits before I went on soldering the parts to the frame, even if I have to take everything apart again.
Here is a bottom shot:

And here one of the front wheel with body and frame:

The springs I used were way too hard for the weight. It is about time to get some softer ones, even if I do not yet know how heavy the vehicle will finally be!

Michael

 

[scattman323]

It's looking Awesome Michael. Keep us updated "thumbsup" Great job so far

 

[Michaele]

It's looking Awesome Michael. Keep us updated "thumbsup" Great job so far

Thanks! Will do:

Nothing much at the moment. I glued the subframe under the rear floor (the black one). Need this to get the body attached to the frame back there. And added the second cross member with the bracket for the body under the passengers feet. So two more brackets on the rearmost crossmember, and the second one on the front end, and the body can be bolted to the chassis. So its about time to get some idea how to mount the tranny in there, seems to get pretty tight between the cross member and the end of the tunnel!

Michael

 

[Michaele]

After a new delivery of material came in, I was kind of distracted of the frame for a moment. In the package was nothing special so far, just some black styrene sheets next to other stuff I do not even know why I ordered it.

Now why was that black styrene so interesting you may wonder. Thats why:

I glued such an older rubber mat with ribs from a toolbox to the back styrene sheet, and cut some stripes, every one just with 2 ribs, sanded the composite smooth on the cut surface, and here we are!

Need to check the dimension, they maybe a little bit too large. But what the heck, these were nice looking, and since it was a used rubber mat, it has some used lok as well.

The screws and holes need to be improoved, since I don't like the look with the bent-out material at the moment.....

Michael

 

[Michaele]

Back to the chassis: With all the brass on the chassis anyway, I started to try and bent a transfer bracket from a thin brass sheet. Got the dimensions not completely right, neither of the design, nor the bends. Now the tranny sits in the right place, but the bracket is too wide to fit underneath the body. Or the body is too narrow fo the bracket, but the bracket is easier to re-do

So, here is the picture of how it is right now:

The chassis with the aluminum-brass mix looks some kind of strange to me, so hopefully this will get black soon, but there is stil a way to go....

Michael